A Simple Promise
by enunciiate
Summary: He felt his heart break again, even though she had already shattered it hours ago. Who says you can't break a broken heart? 2x01. Please R&R!


**A/N:** Dedicated to Kaitlyn because she shares my love for pretty much everything. (Also, she kind of provided the prompts for this one-shot.) My first attempt at writing for Pretty Little Liars, so feedback would lovely.

**A Simple Promise**

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><p>Hanna awoke to the sound of rustling outside her bedroom window. She rolled over to the side and glanced at the alarm clock on her side table. The device read 3:00 am. She had been plagued by yet another nightmare tonight and so, she was actually grateful for the interruption. She closed her eyes and tried to drift off to sleep again, hoping that this time, Ian would <em>not <em>be chasing her around Rosewood.

_She was tired of running. _

Seconds later, she heard the rustling sound again. This time the disruption was closer, more persistent. Her eyes went wide in response, her hands automatically balling into tight fights around her blanket in a motion to protect herself. _Oh God._ She commanded herself to stay _very _still, her pounding heart the only thing rebelling against her wishes. She lay there for awhile, debating whether or not she should get up and take a look around. One more unusual noise and she would, she swore to herself.

The next series of sounds that came were even stronger still and the blonde almost jumped out of her skin when she heard them.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

She shot up from her bed, about to let out a blood curling scream when she realized that Caleb was the one who had been knocking. She clamped her hand over her mouth abruptly to keep herself from emitting the shrill sound that would have certainly woken up her mother (and the rest of Rosewood).

"What are you doing here?" she mouthed from where she was sitting on her bed, having sent him on his way a couple of hours ago.

Secretly, she was happy he was here. She missed him almost as much as he missed her. She would never give him the satisfaction of knowing that, however, which was why she reminded herself to keep her nonchalant demeanor in place. Treating him with cool detachment was definitely the way to go. She tended to protect herself by pushing people away. Caleb had broken her heart once. She would be a fool to give him a chance to be a repeat offender.

He shrugged at her question, giving her an encouraging smile as he motioned for her to open the window and let him in. She shook her head back at him firmly in response. _No way in hell._ She knew letting him in would only weaken her resolve and Hanna was determined to stand her ground.

"_Go away, Caleb_," she told him (this time out loud), stressing every word.

She let her head fall back onto her pillow without even waiting for his response, her golden locks spilling around her like a halo. A part of her wanted him to leave, the other begging him to stay. She needed him.

_They needed each other._

Her eyes remained open as she lay there underneath the covers, listening for any further attempts from him to get her attention. Nothing but silence met her slightly perked ears and she pursed her lips in slight disappointment, having expected him to put up more of a fight than that. After all, he had claimed he loved her earlier. She wondered whether or not his "confession" had simply been another lie, one she had almost (yet again) allowed herself to believe.

"_Liar_," she muttered under her breath, her voice dripping with venom.

She had really thought he was different. Having been completely consumed by her own thoughts, Hanna failed to notice Caleb slip into the room. He was now standing at the foot of her bed, his smirk only serving to highlight his handsome face.

"It's not polite to call people names, Hanna, especially behind their backs," Caleb noted then, teasing her. "Didn't your mother ever teach you that?"

_God, she was beautiful._

She sat up faster than she had the last time upon hearing his voice. She had to stop herself from licking her lips when she finally laid eyes on him.

_God, he was sexy._

"What the hell? How did you get in here?" she hissed, disregarding her obvious attraction to him and feigning irritation.

He chuckled at her reaction to his presence, finding her even more adorable when she was angry with him. He cocked his head toward the window before addressing her.

"I'm no stranger to breaking and entering," he said, a cocky grin on his face as he took a step toward her.

They were too far apart for his liking, both physically and emotionally.

"Of course you aren't," she commented, rolling her eyes, a hint of bitterness evident in her voice.

She noticed him take yet another step toward her then and she immediately held up her hand to stop him from getting any closer. She bored her eyes into his, daring him to defy her.

"One more step and I'll make sure you leave here without your balls," she threatened him, tired enough to believe she was merely having another nightmare.

He seemed unfazed by her ruthless words. In fact, his face grew serious as he came closer toward her still. Taking a seat on the edge of her bed, Caleb reached for her hand with his. She retracted hers in response before he had even touched her, holding her knees up close to her chest in an act to protect herself from him in every sense of the word. He felt his heart break again, even though she had already shattered it hours ago.

_Who says you can't break a broken heart?_

He forced out a small smile, one which wavered as he spoke, and whispered, "Lost them the moment I fell in love with you."

His words got her attention and she glanced at him abruptly, her chin no longer resting on her knees. She could hear the honesty in his voice.

Still, she warned him, her lips quivering a little. "Don't. Please, just don't."

She turned away from him again, the tears threatening to fall from her glistening orbs. What she didn't know was that Caleb was close to tears as well. Of course, being a boy, he was _much_ better at hiding his emotions. His current expression was absolutely unreadable.

"Hanna, give me a chance," he practically begged her, unable to imagine not having her in his life. "To be your friend again even. I miss you, not in some cheesy, 'let's hold hands and be together forever' kind of way. I just miss you, plain and simple. I miss my best friend. _Please Hanna._"

His voice broke a little before he finished, "I _need _you in my life."

She bit back a sob, not wanting to put her heart on the line for him again.

"You should've thought about that before you used me," she spat, whirling her head around to face him.

Her voice was shaking and the single tear rolling down her cheek did not go unnoticed. He wanted to hold her. He would do anything to make everything okay again.

"Get out. I _never _want to see you again," she emphasized, her tears starting to spill over uncontrollably now.

Witnessing her icy demeanor fall apart only served to break down his own walls. In that moment, he felt compelled to tell her _exactly _how frustrated he was with _her_.

"I didn't know you then, Hanna!" he shouted defensively before lowering his voice and repeating his words, not wanting to wake her mother up. "I didn't know you then, not like I do now."

She scoffed in disbelief, although her anger seemed to dissipate somewhat knowing that he was trying to fight for her.

_Try a little harder._

"You don't know me, Caleb," she enlightened him, pressing her lips together in a thin line. "_I_ don't even know me. So what makes you think you do?"

"You're right," he answered, grabbing her hand and holding onto it tightly.

She attempted to wrench her hand out of his grasp, but to no avail. She stopped struggling when she acknowledged that he had no intention of letting her go.

"I don't know you," he continued, watching her eyes soften with every passing second. "There's so many things I don't know about you. I don't know your most embarrassing moment or who your best friend was in the second grade. I don't know whether or not you were a vegetarian at one point in your life nor do I have any knowledge whatsoever of the items in your goddamn closet, but I know I'm completely in love with you, Hanna Marin."

His other hand reached up to caress her cheek then and although she tensed at the contact at first, she eventually leaned into his touch.

"I love each and every one of your smiles," he confessed, shifting even closer to her. "I love the way your eyes have a flicker of gold in them when you're standing in the sunlight. I love the way you laugh, the way you treat your friends, the way you light up when your mother praises you. I'm completely in love with you even though I know so little and I know that every new thing I _do _learn will only make me fall harder, deeper. I just need you to give me that ch-"

His words were cut off because her lips were on his and he savored the moment, lest he wake up in his own bed suddenly only to realize that this was all a dream. When she pulled back from him and returned his earlier sentiment with an 'I love you too.', he pinched himself to be sure.

_Thank God._

He continued to stare at her in disbelief for another good minute or two before kissing her back eagerly, unbelievable happy that she was finally accepting his apology, that she was willing to accept him back into her life. When they finally broke apart, she let out a small laugh as he reached over to wipe the tear stains from her cheeks.

"Why do I feel like there's been more angst in this relationship than anything else?" she asked him, a soft smile still touching her lips. "Aren't the good relationships the ones that are supposed to be make you happy like all the time?"

He shrugged, returning her angelic smile as he pulled her into his arms, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Doesn't matter I guess," she told him when he gave her no answer, lying on her pillow and patting the space next to her for him to sleep. "As long as you promise not to break my heart again."

"As long as you promise not to break mine," he echoed, slipping under the covers with her.

Caleb sighed in contentment as the blonde snuggled up to him, her head fitting perfectly in the crook of his neck. He ran a hand through her blonde locks, inhaling her familiar scent.

_He had missed her so much._

He knew that he would have to leave before morning came to avoid her mother, but he was content with having the few hours that they did, knowing that she was his again.

"Babe?" he whispered into the night in case she hadn't drifted off to sleep quite yet.

There was a long pause before she said anything, being half asleep already.

"Yeah?"

"The good relationships _are _the ones that make you happy all the time," he informed her, still wide awake himself. "But the _epic _relationships are the ones like yours and mine. Think about it. No one writes love songs about the relationships that come easy."

"Hmmm, true," she agreed with him groggily before pressing herself even closer to him.

He shifted closer to her himself, holding her tightly in his arms. He wondered whether ot not she would remember what he had said to her tomorrow morning. He supposed that hardly mattered. He had a lifetime ahead of him to show her how much he loved her, how much he cared. The important thing was that he had gotten her back and as he closed his eyes, letting sleep take over his consciousness as well, he vowed to never, _ever_ let her go.


End file.
